About the Book

Climate change is a defining issue in contemporary life. Since the Industrial Revolution, heavy reliance on carbon-based sources for energy in industry and society has contributed to substantial changes in the climate, indicated by increases in temperature and sea level rise.

In the last three decades, concerns regarding human contributions to climate change have moved from obscure scientific inquiries to the fore of science, politics, policy and practices at many levels. From local adaptation strategies to international treaty negotiation, ‘the politics of climate change’ is as pervasive, vital and contested as it has ever been.

On the cusp of a new commitment to international co-operation to rein in greenhouse gas emissions, this essential book intervenes to help understand and engage with the dynamic and compelling ‘Politics of Climate Change’.

This edited collection draws on a vast array of experience, expertise and perspectives, with authors with backgrounds in climate science, geography, environmental studies, biology, sociology, political science, psychology and philosophy. This reflects the contemporary conditions where the politics of climate change permeates and penetrates all facets of our shared lives and livelihoods.

Chapters include the Politics of Climate Science, History of Climate Policy, the Cultural Politics of Climate Change: Interactions in the Spaces of Everyday, the Politics of Interstate Climate Negotiations, the Politics of the Carbon Economy, and Addressing Inequality.

An A – Z glossary of key terms offers additional information in dictionary format, with entries on topics including Carbon tax, Stabilization, Renewable technologies and the World Meteorological Organization.

A section of Maps offers a visual overview of the effects of environmental change.

Reviews

'What makes this book unique is that it was written in anticipation of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. I have learned a lot from reading this book and strongly recommend this to anyone involved in or interested in the politics of climate change. If the series continues at this standard it will be a valuable addition to libraries' - Reference Reviews

'This edited volume comes at a critical time in the international negotiations on climate change. While progress on climate policy since the 1990s has not been rapid, the picture is now changing quickly. Time is short to agree the national and international climate policies that will puts us on path to achieving a 50 per cent reduction in annual global emission flows relative to 1990 by 2050. Equity issues rightly remain at the forefront of the negotiations, and this volume provides several stimulating perspectives on important political aspects of the global climate negotiations.'- Lord Nicholas Stern, IG Patel Chair and Director, LSE Asia Research Centre

'These essays on the politics of climate change provide timely and thoughtful insights into the theory and practice of climate science, climate politics, mitigation and adaptation. They are essential reading for those interested in international climate policy as well as the everyday cultural politics of public responses to climate change.'- Professor Diana Liverman, Institute of the Environment, University of Arizona, and Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford